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Athletes regress to kidlife
byJennifer Bentley, sports editor
Sundays were made for watching sports in my house. Saturdays were too for that matter.
More often than not on the weekends, I am sprawled on the couch, watching the ball games with all the enthusiasm of the best arm chair coach.
So it drives me absolutely wild to watch what happens during the games now.
Grown men, who make more in a year than I will in 10, throwing fits like 5-year-old kindergartners.
It is not just football, or hockey; it’s nearly every professional sport out there.
One recent incident involved Roger Clemens.
After throwing a nice sized chunk of bat at Mike Piazza during the World Series, Clemens was fined $50,000.
But he should never have thrown the bat in the first place. Most often, you do not see this type of action in Little League games, and here it is, the World Series, and he is acting worse than my 6-year-old nephew complete with the temper tantrum and unrepentant attitude.
I watched in horror during a hockey game, my favorite sport, as Marty McSorley of the Boston Bruins hit Donald Brashear of the Vancouver Canucks across the head with a hockey stick.
McSorley faced jail time and fines, but all I could think about was my high school coach, who benched the goalie for a month after she started a fight that evolved into a huge brawl.
Coach never backed down from his punishment for the goalie’s actions, and the goalie sat out for a month.
I know because I was that goalie, and it was my temper that led to my being benched. It made me mad and frustrated, but looking back, I learned that for every action, there is a consequence and that sometimes those consequences are not always fun.
Lack of consequences seems to be the problem.
None of the pro players today has limits put upon him. The pros apparently can do whatever they want to do, without repercussions, as long as they play well.
The list of felon pro players grows longer and longer, and shows no signs of stopping.
Michael Irvin was arrested several times, once for possession of cocaine, but the NFL still let him play until he retired.
Less than a year after his retirement, Irvin was again arrested for possession of cocaine.
After leaving his rehab center for four hours, Darryl Strawberry was arrested and admitted to smoking crack while he was gone. This arrest followed previous arrests for possession.
Something has gone wrong. For most pro players, first punishment is the fine.
The fines grow larger and larger, but still the offense continues.
The solution is simple: do not use fines.
Start benching players for the rest of the year. Even better, the league should ban those players from using the team’s name in those lucrative endorsements for a year.
Major endorsements provide most of the money player’s make.
Every advertisement with a player always announces that player’s team.
No company will want a player who cannot use his team’s name in his endorsement. No endorsements, no money.
The best way to make these players behave is simply to quit coddling them and make them face up to what they have done.
But no one in the league seems to be brave enough to do this.
Major troublemakers, like Dennis Rodman, draw in crowds, and crowds mean money. The easiest solution is neither to take their money away, nor bench them.
The best solution is for every fan, who waits for hours in line for tickets, to quit going to games when players throw fits.
If we still watch the games or go to the games, we support these players even while we say we do not like their attitudes.
Therefore, lately, I watch the games on TV with half an ear. Why should I spend my weekends sitting on the couch, watching a sport in which the love of the game no longer matters?
All these sports players want is more recognition and more money.
I grew up watching sports. I played sports. But I do not like the attitude most players have.
From now on, the TV is off on Monday nights.
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